Wracked with angst over the fate of our beloved and horribly misgoverned Republic, the DiploMad returns to do battle on the world wide web, swearing death to political correctness, and pulling no punches.

Friday, March 9, 2012

I am Back

After a long break, I am back.

I hope there are still readers out there.

If anybody is still reading, let me give an abbreviated version of what’s happened. After 34 years, I am out of the Foreign Service. It got intolerable. I was up for two ambassadorial nominations but got screwed out of them by the Department, in particular by some career officers who have made it a point to make sure that out-spoken conservative FSOs do not get embassies. By the way, this is not a phenomenon unique to me or to the Obama mis-administration. This goes on under Republican presidencies, too. The State Department bureaucracy is very much a mental bee hive: independent thought is not encouraged. You must conform to the hive. The hive does not respond to the President or to the national interest; the hive takes care of itself.

That’s enough of that.

I am not going to whine about it anymore, and don’t want to get into the details, but that’s what’s happened.

So, now I am retired, and feel less and less inclined to remain anonymous. I will be writing about foreign affairs, political, and economic issues. I hope there’s still some interest. If there isn’t, I will do it as writing therapy.

I'd lost hope. Every time I came here, more and more infrequently, I thought you were gone forever; perhaps put upon by those more senior to yourself, and were now rotting in some iron maiden somewhere. Now, I weep virtual tears of joy at your safe and most welcomed return!

I thought they were posting you in a place you couldn't express yourself. I'm surprised you lasted this long after DiploMad 1.

Retirement is great. You can say what you want without fear of reprisal. And Chad or Burkina Faso probably weren't the best ambassadorships anyway. So do your articles, and do your damage. You write with passion. And you do it for a good cause.

Welcome back!I feel your pain. I, too, after nearly 23 years, retired at the end of 2011. Couldn't take the Dept bureaucracy anymore, or the increasing distasteful policies I had to advocate. Should have been promoted at least 5 years ago, had my staff cut by 50%, no travel money, couldn't get a day of leave for almost a year, lost airfares twice when I had to cancel personal trips b/c of VIP visits.But the Dept keeps on giving! The Retirement Office is the most incompetent bunch imaginable. Monthly annuity miscalculated by $200/mo; didn't send the paperwork to Charleston Finance Center, so didn't get paid..., still not sure if my life/health insurance premiums got paid.The good news is that I don't miss working at all.Can't wait to read your posts.Delilah

Screwed out of ambassadorships? You sound like you have the very sense of entitlement that you decry in others. For 34 years, you sucked at the teat that you now insult, getting free overseas housing, years of language training on generous per diem, and a retirement salary that most Foreign Service Officers, who retire at lower ranks than you did, are envious of. As a Foreign Service Officer with 21 years in myself, I would guess that after 34 years - an unusually long career for State diplomats - you have upwards of $1 million in your Thrift Savings Plan and are pulling in $70K in pension (for life) plus social security (I'm looking at retiring with $250K in TSP and a pension of $35K a year). You did very well for yourself, apparently having no problems balancing your morals with working for an organization that you despise. Or did you only come to despise it when you didn't get an ambassadorship that most of us realize we will never achieve? (Other readers: being "up for two ambassadorships" means that you were on a list of approximately five names for consideration for each, hardly any certainty for eventual appointment; of thousands of Foreign Service Officers, there are just over 120 ambassadors at a time.)

I do acknowledge the dysfunctionality of a lot of the State Department, particularly in how the hierarchical organization works, but I suspect that you yourself were part of the bullying culture that you now find objectionable.

About Me

W. Lewis Amselem, long time US Foreign Service Officer; now retired; served all over the world and under all sorts of conditions. Convinced the State Department needs to be drastically slashed and reformed so that it will no longer pose a threat to the national interests of the United States.